Toy gun



Dec. 21, 1954 J. v. MOELVEEN TOY GUN Filed March 29, 1952 FIG.

iiZZi FIG.2

IO H

FIG.3

FIG.4

INVENTOR.

Jackson V McElveen TOY GUN Jackson V. McElveen, Suitland, Md.

Application March 29, 1952, Serial No. 279,308

6 Claims. (Cl. 124-19) that projection of the bands follow a sequencewhereby the band engaged on the forwardmost detent is projected firstand succeeding bands projected from detents. aligned progressively tothe rear, the band. on the rearmost detent being projected last. Thissequence of projection is required because bands engaged to the rear, ifprojected first, become lodged upon detents aligned in front. This.

is a shortcoming that has seriously limited the adaptability oflongitudinally aligned rotatable detents for use in elastic band guns,for given this sequence of projection, loading of the bands encounterseither one or the other of the following difiiculties:

1. if the bands are engaged upon the detents in the same sequence asthat in which they are projected, i. e., the first band being engagedupon the forwardmost detent, then the forward end of each band must belooped over a separate and individual surface at the muzzle end of thegun in order to prevent the bands from overlapping and entangling eachother in projection, a complicated procedure, increasing inun'wiel'diness directly with the number of bands so engaged.

2. f the bands are engaged upon the detents in sequence reverse of thesequence in which they are projected, i. e., the first band beingengaged upon the rearmost detent, then the bands may be looped over acommon surface at the muzzle end of the gun, however, engagement of thebands upon the detents becomes extremely dih'icult since a band, onceengaged upon a detent, partially, if not totally, obstructs access tothe detents aligned in front.

With the above in mind, as well as other details that are explainedherein, the objects, of my invention are:

First, to provide a toy gun of the character described which may beloaded with a plurality of elastic bands and is equipped with meanswhereby the bands may be released and projected either singly or inrapid succession;

Second, to provide a toy gun of the character described which shallcomprise few and simpleparts, which shall be easy to assemble, rugged inconstruction, safe to use, easy to operate, andwhich is adaptable to astructure resembling in appearance. conventional smallarms weapons;

Third, to provide in a toy gun of the character described, noveldetaining and releasing mechanism in which the detents to stretchedelastic bands are individually pivoted members aligned longitudinally ofthe gun, which, upon disengagement with an arrester, rotate forward andupward to project the bands, thus preventing the bands from becominglodged or caught, during projection, upon detents aligned in front;

Fourth, to provide in a toy gun of the character described, detainingmechanism for stretched elastic bands upon which the bands may beengaged in sequence, the first band being engaged upon the forwardmostdetent and succeeding bands engaged, progressively, on detents alined tothe rear, the last band being engaged upon the rearmost detent, andreleasing mechanism whereby the bands may be projected in sequencereverse of the sequence in which they are engaged;

Patented Dec. 21, 1954 ice arrangement of parts hereinafter more fullydescribed,

illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawing. forming'a part of this application and in which likedesignating-numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the severalviews:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a toy gun embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but having a side plate thereofremoved disclosing the interior mechanism; Figure 3 is a view similar toFigure 2, but showing the interior mechanism in a different stage ofoperation;

Figure 4 illustrates a sectional view along the line 44 of Figure 1,looking in the direction of the. arrows.

Continuing. now more in detail with the drawings, it will be noted thatwhile the latter illustrate a facsimile of the sub-machine-gun type ofweapon, other conventional weapons may be imitated without departingfrom the construction of parts employed and herein described.v The bodyand stock of the gun are formed by spaced plates 1. The rear grip isindicated by the numeral 2, the front grip. by 3, the barrel. by 4, andthe sight by 5. The elastiebands 6, which constitute the projectiles,are looped: over the. front of the sight 5. and stretched. and hooked.over the retaining members 7 which are pivoted, betweenthe spaced plates1 by retaining pins 8; The spaced plates 1 are secured by ordinary woodscrews or rivets 9.

The pivoted members 7 are rotated to the cocked or loading position bydownward pressure applied upon the.

cocking hammer 10. which pivots between the spaced.

plates 1 on the cocking hammer retaining pin 11. The serrated end of thecocking hammer 10 protrudes from between the spaced plates 1 in the rearof the gun where. it can be conveniently operated by the thumb. Theother end of the cocking hammer 10 rests against the rear edge of therearmost pivoted member 7 in such position thatwhen downward pressure isapplied to the serrated, end of the cooking hammer .10, the other end ofthe cocking hammer 10. pushes against the rearmost pivoted member 7which rotates and in turn causes all pivoted members. 7 to. rotate tothe cocked position. Thus must be done so that the arrester 12 may beengaged with the lower edges of the pivoted members 7, arresting theirrotation and lock;- ing tihem in position to engage and retain stretchedelasticban s.

In loading, the first elastic band is hooked orlooped; over the. forwardpivoted member 7 and succeeding; bands, are hooked progressively to therear, the last being; hookedon the rearmost pivoted member 7. This.loading sequence must be followed because in shooting the. gun the bandon the rearmost pivoted member 7 is projected; first and the band on,the forwardmost pivoted member 7 is. projected last, which is obvious inthe several illustrations.

The arrester 12 has a path between the spaced plates 1, which is achannel formed by the rear arrester support 13,. which is part of therear grip 2, the front arrester support 124, and the arrester guide 15,a portion of which. protrudesv above the barrel forming; the sight; 5.Part of the arrester 12. protrudes through the slot 16 and. providesthe'front: r p

In this channel provided between the spaced plates 1, the arrester 12may be engaged and disengaged with the retaining members 7 by therearward or forward movement of the front grip 3.

It will be noted in Figure 2 that when the arrester 12 is in itsrearmost position, the pivoted members 7 are locked in a positionwhereby the lower portion of each rests upon the arrester and the upperportion of each protrudes above the surface of the gun inclinedrearwardly, providing a series of surfaces that extend at right anglesto the line of sight. Each of these surfaces will retain the loop end ofa stretched elastic band.

To shoot the gun, when loaded as previously described,

the forward grip 3 is moved in the direction of the muzzle of the gun.This causes the arrester 12 to free the rotary movement of the pivotedmembers 7 permitting them to rotate and project the elastic bands 6. Itwill be noted that it is not possible to cause the projection of any twoor more elastic bands simultaneously; however, if the front grip 3 ismoved forward rapidly, extremely rapid projection of the bands iseffected.

Figure 3 shows the arrester 12 intermediate its forward and rearposition. In the illustration the rearmost four pivoted members 7 haverotated to their release positions and the forwardmost four pivotedmembers 7 are still engaged with the body of the arrester 12.

It will be noted that the pivoted members 7 are of such arrangement thatin projecting the elastic bands the retaining surface raises the bandabove the level of the pivoted members 7 immediately in front. Thisprevents the bands from becoming lodged or caught during projection.

It will also be noted that the retaining pins 9, which provide thefulcrums upon which the pivoted members 7 rotate, are much nearer theprojecting surfaces than they are to the portion of said members thatengages the arrester 12. The increased leverage, thus provided, at thepoint of engagement of the pivoted members 7 with the arrester 12reduces the downward pressure caused by the tension of the stretchedelastic bands and reduces friction to a minimum. This principle parmitsthe arrester 12 to be operated quite easily even when the gun is loadedwith elastic bands.

Figure 4, a vertical cross section of the gun looking in the directionof the arrows along the line 4-4 of Figure 1, shows a pivoted member 7in the cocked position in relation to its retaining pin 8, washers 17,arrester 12, rear arrester support 13, and spaced plates 1.

In manufacture, the pivoted members may be stamped or pressed from sheetmetal or plastic. The spaced plates 1, arrester 12, arrester supportsand guide, 13, 14 and 15, and the front grip 3 and rear grip 2, whilevery adaptable to manufacture from wood, are also adaptable tofabrication from metal or plastic.

While there is described herein a preferred embodiment of my presentinvention, it is, nevertheless, to be understood that minor changes maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A toy gun of the character described for shooting elastic bandscomprising a pair of spaced plates, defining the body of a gun, aplurality of longitudinally aligned, pivoted members between saidplates, their upper ends normally protruding above the stock of the gunand inclined rearwardly for retaining elastic bands engaged in stretchedcondition over the barrel of the gun, said pivoted members beingpartially rotatable, their upper ends describing a forward and upwardare for disengagement of said bands, an arrester traversing a pathbetween said plates, slidably engageable and reversably disengageablewith the lower ends of said pivoted members to arrest and, conversely,to free said pivoted members for consecutive, individual, partialforward and upward rotation, a protrusion on said arrester providing agrip for manual activation thereof, and a cocking lever aligned in therear of said pivoted members providing means for rotating said membersto position for engagement with said arrester.

2. A toy gun of the character described for shooting elastic bandscomprising a pair of spaced plates, defining the body of a gun, aplurality of longitudinally aligned members pivoted between said plates,their upper ends normally protruding above the stock of the gun andinclined rearwardly for retaining elastic bands engaged in stretchedcondition over the barrel of the gun, said pivoted members beingpartially rotatable, their upper ends describing a forward and upwardare for disengagement of said bands; an arrester traversing a pathbetween said plates, slidably engageable and reversably disengageablewith the lower ends of said pivoted members, to arrest and, conversely,to free said pivoted members for consecutive, individual, forward andupward rotation, and means for engaging and disengaging said arresterwith said pivoted members.

3. A toy gun of the character described for shooting elastic bandscomprising a gun proper, a plurality of longitudinally aligned pivotedmembers on said gun, their upper ends normally protruding above thestock of the gun and inclined rearwardly for retaining elastic bandsengaged in stretched condition over the barrel of the gun, said pivotedmembers being rotatable, their upper ends describing a forward andupward are for disengagement of said bands; an arrester mounted on saidgun, engageable and reversely disengageable with said pivoted members,to arrest and, conversely, to free said pivoted members for consecutive,individual, forward and upward r0- tation, and a protrusion on saidarrester providing a grip for manual activation thereof.

4. A toy gun of the character described for shooting elastic bandscomprising a gun proper, a plurality of longitudinally aligned memberspivoted on said gun, their upper ends normally protruding above thestock of the gun and inclined rearwardly, an arrester engageable withthe lower ends of said pivoted members, arresting said pivoted membersin their normal state of protrusion above the stock of the gun, saidarrester slidable from beneath said lower ends of said pivoted membersto free said pivoted member for consecutive, individual, forward andupward rotation, and means to engage and disengage said arrester withsaid pivoted members.

5. A toy gun of the character described for shooting elastic bandscomprising a gun proper, a plurality of longitudinally aligned memberspivoted on said gun, their upper ends normally protruding above thestock of the gun and inclined rearwardly, said pivoted members beingpartially rotatable, their upper ends describing a forward and upwardarc; means to arrest said pivoted members in their normal state ofprotrusion above the stock of the gun and, conversely, to free saidpivoted members to consecutive, individual, partial forward and upwardrotation, said means including an arrester, said arrester engageablewith said pivoted members to arrest the same and disengageable to freesaid pivoted members for rotation.

6. A toy gun of the character described for shooting elastic bandscomprising a gun proper, a plurality of longitudinally aligned memberspivoted on said gun, their upper ends normally inclined rearwardly forretaining elastic bands engaged in stretched condition over the barrelof the gun; an arrester engageable with the lower ends of said pivotedmembers, arresting said pivoted members in normal position forengagement with said bands, said arrester slidable from beneath saidlower ends of said pivoted members to free said pivoted members forconsecutive, individual, forward and upward rotation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,809,208 McFarland June 9, 1931 2,098,001 Gagnon et a1. Nov.2, 1937 2,529,047 Paul Nov. 7, 1950 2,573,142 Herring Oct. 30, 1951

